Read Online Homeless by Ms. Michel Moore - Free Book Online Page B

fuck him over,” he zoned back out of his current reality thinking about the unconventional life he’d been forced to live.
    * * *
    Sadly it had been the roughest year of his young life. Struggling to keep food in his stomach, wash the clothes he copped from the donated box, and just simply stay alive was more than a notion in the city of Detroit. Times were hard in the Motor City, but the people living in it were even harder. The mental abuse Lonnie withstood was more than any man, woman, or child should have to face—alone or otherwise—but somehow, he managed. Not only had he been mocked, teased, dogged, and slandered at school, Lonnie was ignored, slighted, and made to feel second best at most of the shelters he’d slept at.
    Yet now, he felt the tide was about to turn. Things were looking up. He finally could see the sun rising from the darkness. There would be no more of some of the gatekeepers at the various facilities making the rules up as they go along. No more would Lonnie have to wake up early in the morning to ensure eating a free breakfast or rushing to make it back before curfew. The woman living in the shelter across the road wouldn’t be able to stand in front of the building and tease him about being less than a man because he was in the same predicament as they were. Much like all the other women he’d been unfortunate enough to come in contact with since his mother’s death, they were evil, spiteful, out for self bitches as well. The fact they, like him, didn’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out made no difference. However, there was about to be a serious changing of the guard. The tide was about to turn. The silver lining everyone spoke about was finally coming into view. Lonnie had beaten all the terrible odds stacked against him. The still grief-stricken teen was a wonderful miracle in progress. He was finally graduating from high school. Homeless, parentless, and penniless . . . He’d made it.
    * * *
    Not attending the prom or participating in any of the other senior activities, the long-suffering teenager could care less. The only thing the social recluse young man focused on was getting that diploma and starting the next phase of his life. If he could excel in the scholarship-sponsored advanced computer design program, Lonnie was guaranteed paid housing and a small cash stipend once a month. That would be all the youth from the wrong side of the tracks needed to be on his way to some sort of normalcy.

CHAPTER TWELVE
    Settling in to his very own tiny studio apartment, Lonnie was relieved. Nestled in the middle of the university’s diverse student population, he felt like a fish out of water, but strangely linked to his neighbors. This was the first place Lonnie could actually call or even consider home since his mother’s death. Still carrying around the same duffle bag full of his meager possessions, he felt secure in finally unpacking them. Blessed with a full-size bed, a desk, and a small-size couch from the scholarship board, Lonnie took the time to thank God for keeping him safe and sound throughout his time lost out in the streets. No matter how much mayhem and chaos he went through, the now-eighteen-year-old young man knew it could’ve been way over a hundred times worse.
    Sitting down on the arm of the couch, the poor but content teen removed a new benefit card issued from the Department of Social Services out of a manila-colored envelope. Dialing the telephone number located on the rear of the card, the near destitute Lonnie smiled upon hearing it had not only close to $400 in food stamps loaded, but $100 in cash as well. That, along with the school program’s initial payout of $356, Lonnie felt as if he’d hit the lottery. Knowing he’d have to continue to study hard and hit the books if he wanted his blessings to stay flowing, he started to plan out the next year of his life, week by week. By evening’s end,